I 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 ARTS By Laurence J Freedman Daily Arts Writer Any clubgoer knows that a solid dose of ener- gy is needed to propel a live music experience to new heights. Naturally injecting exhilarating energy into the room every time they take the stage is Toronto's the New Deal, a trio that blurs the distinct line between man and machine. Seamlessly melding the live musicianship of the improvisational scene with the heart-pumping intensity of an electronic DJ, the New Deal create a dynamic mixture of house and breakbeat with enough funk and jazz influences to satisfy any- one who yearns for both soul and power in their music. The New Deal brings this exciting con- coction to the Blind Pig with opener prog- funksters Drums and Tuba this Friday. While loungy, Gone Gone Gone is plenty upbeat. The title track will no doubt be a staple of the live set on par with "Technobeam" while "Episode 7" sounds like something out of a future "Mission: Impossible" movie. "A Little While Longer" is the closest thing drum and bass can come to melodic. Fans of the jam band scene will undoubtedly recognize the New Deal as a staple of festivals and other late-night musical bills. While the Disco Biscuits are more of a rock band, their electronic-based jams are much more repeti- tive than the New Deal's. A band like Par- ticle lack the dynamics that gives the New Deal its depth. This band thrives on improvising as a constant ensemble; the lack of noodly solos giving their marathon sets more attitude. An ability to turn on both electronic and organic beat junkies, as well as infiltrate the turntables of urban 4 4 Ar t01yor runirversity roucrtironr I Just met a boy named Menachem. 'Desdemona' revamps Shakespeare plays 4 Courtesy ofSounU+Ligh Isn't that Rudy from the Fat Albert gang? WHAT S THE DEAL?. By Sarah Peterson Daily Fine Arts Editor FIN EA.r REVIEW Out of the darkness rises one lone- ly note. Then, in a flurry of arms, faces and combined harmonies, the lights are brought up and a triangle of tragedy is illuminated. In one cor- Hitting the road in sup- port of its sophomore LP Gone Gon bassist Dan Kurtz says going through the process of record- The ing the album has "widened my perspective of what the New De Deal (Kurtz, along with drum- Friday at mer Darren Shearer and key- At the B boardist Jamie Shields) is capable of. It's totally a departure from wh recorded in the past." TORONTO JAM BAND VISITS THE PIG e Gone, Gone Gone Gone is certainly more subdued tion of th than what the band churns out in its live shows North Am New while still maintaining a steady intensity from about his beginning to end. As Kurtz puts it, "It's impossible already p eal to create a successful record going balls-to-the- Area: One 9:30 p.m. walls throughout." One of the album's best tunes is ance head Blind Pig the funky "Don't Blame Yourself," featuring guest favorite C female vocals from Feist, known for her work with have pleni hat we've Broken Social Scene. "I Feel Love" builds a warm the next b steady groove and concludes with a euphoric riff. and Ibiza's lounges begs the ques- e New Deal's future in clubs outside erica. Dan Kurtz is cautiously optimistic band's prospects abroad. But having layed in the electronic tent of Moby's Festival and with an upcoming appear- Lining the opening night of the critics MJ Festival in New York, the New Deal ty to of reason to expect that they'll be big thing at places like London's Fabric Amnesia. ner, Juliet prepares and her bosom with Romeo's dagger. In the other, Othello gravely stands over the mur- dered Desde- mona, and in the center, Con- stance, a doctoral student struggling to shatter her life Goodnight Desdemona Oct. 9-11 at 8p.m. and Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. $8 Students $15 Adults At the Trueblood Theatre I i ABC's 'It's All Relative' a relatively new sitcom By Kevin Hollifield For the Daily TV R EVIEW Take equal parts "All in the Family" and "Will & Grace," neglect quality and let the cliches fly. The result is ABC's "It's All ...._m......__ Relative," the fla- It's All vor of humor RelatAll without the carbs a of biting social MWe sdaytat commentary. 8:30 p.m. Lenny Clarke ABC ("The Job") leads this no name cast as "Mace" O'Neil, a predictable, Irish-Catholic, bar-own- ing, Republican, poor man's Colin Quinn. His son Bobby (Reid Scott) is engaged to Liz (Maggie Lawson), who he met on a ski trip. He is a bartender who went to junior college; she goes to Harvard. Just for good measure, she has two gay fathers. In the pilot, the parents of the two crazy lovebirds finally meet. Liz's dads go "undercover" to the O'Neils' bar as straight dock workers and the forced jokes fly. While this show is somewhat humorous, it is by no means appointment TV, just an amusing waste of a half hour. In an effort to regain middle-Ameri- can family ratings, ABC has countless interchangeable fighting in-law shows this season. Not to be outdone, "It's All Relative" offers several of the to find herself, stands behind the desk that encompasses the entirety of the last 10 years of her life. As the play unfolds, the bond between the three women unfolds. Ann-Marie MacDoanald's "Good- night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)" is a play full of witticism in blank verse. When Constance, a stu- dent convinced that Shakespeare stole the plot lines of both "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello," and by the deletion of the wise fool turned both stories from comedies into tragedies, is sucked into both plays, her presence keeps both women alive, unbottling a slue of absurd sit- uations. While the focus of the play is two of Shakespeare's most tear- wrenching tragedies, when death is deleted the laughter caused by the clever creation and deliverance of the dialogue is at points almost unbearable. Underneath the good humor though, is a touching story of Courtewy of Universiy Productions Thanks, Mom. But I'm not hungry. one woman's self realization and the two fictitious characters who, in being saved from death, teach the main character about life. From the chorus who serve as both banner bearers and background music to the strong and sweet Constance, the play is solid from the time the actors take the stage to their final bow. When doing Shakespeare, dia- logue can sometimes get lost in trans- lation, but the members of this cast move between their lines in Old Eng- lish and their lines spoken in modern tongue seamlessly. By the end, it seems more natural to hear dialogue spoken in verse. Also, the set, props, lighting and costumes all add to the fantastical atmosphere of the play. The cast of "Goodnight Desde- mona (Good Morning Juliet)" will return to the stage of the Trueblood Theatre this weekend for their last four performances and in the opinion of this wise fool, it is an experience not to be missed. 4 Courtesy ofA From the set of "Frasier" ... a sitcom you won't be able to find in three weeks. classic sitcom stereotypes: the slow- witted guy, the wife who continually puts her husband in his place, the effeminate homosexual and the wise- cracking sister. The show is forced at times and may offend both sides of the ideological spectrum Obviously ripping off Archie Bunker, both in characters and in title, "It's All Relative" works better than saying what it really is: "Thirty minutes till 'The Bachelor."' *EMPACT DANCE * MUTWETS * AMATIN' BLUE * I Z cE Z 0 v . 3i *c vI _VD 3i UIw / UNVRSIMTY ACTMiES CENTER "1IA1I 4 I proudly presents Co uk.Ae 'r e 9 '9G9P j~rt tv vtjrress EDITING 1 st HOUR FREE Engish Vsage e Organizing e Shortening * 15 years Experience 734.717.2546 danstein@umich.edu What do Howard Dean, Democratic Presidential hopeful, and embattled California Governor Gray Davis have in common? Visit www.xialumns.org/deandavis.htm to find out! 4a llelly 9 44 0 a Classes start Oct 15 Tagister NowY spaces are limitedu Michigan onion TicKeting Office For more info, visit www.umich-edu/-uac or call 739-763-1207 s1V 5vGI1~ XnU* AAI.LINA iS A Ad4s 44 m ;i 47::j ii%:}::; :.